One of the simplest methods of recording and communicating information is the traditional method of writing the information down on a piece of paper with a writing instrument such as a pen. Writing information by hand on a piece of paper is inexpensive and can be done quickly and easily with little preparation. The traditional method is also flexible in that a writer can generally write in any format anywhere on the page. One of the limitations with handwritten work is that it is not easily manipulated or transferred to other contexts. In other words, changing or transferring a piece of handwritten text typically requires rewriting the text on another medium.
Handwritten notes are often rewritten with personal computers. Specifically, with the widespread use of personal computers, textual information often is recorded using word processing software running on a personal computer. The advantage of such electronic methods for recording information is that the information can be easily stored and transferred to other remote computing devices and electronic media. Such electronically recorded text can also be easily corrected, modified, and manipulated in a variety of different ways.
Typical computer systems, especially computer systems using graphical user interface (GUI) systems such as Microsoft WINDOWS, are optimized for accepting user input from one or more discrete input devices. Common input devices include a keyboard for entering text and a pointing device, such as a mouse with one or more buttons, for controlling the user interface. The keyboard and mouse interface facilitates creation and modification of electronic documents including text, spreadsheets, database fields, drawings, and photos.
One of the limitations with conventional GUI systems of computers is that a user must generally type the text they are entering into the personal computer using the keyboard. Entering text using a keyboard is generally slower and more cumbersome than handwriting. Although recent advances have been made in reducing the size of personal computers, they are still not as portable and easily accessible as traditional paper and pen. Furthermore, traditional pen and paper provide the user with considerable flexibility for editing a document, writing notes in the margin, and drawing figures and shapes. In some instances, a user may prefer to use a pen to mark-up a document rather than review the document on-screen because of the ability to freely make notes outside of the confines of the keyboard and mouse interface.
To address the shortcomings of traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces, there have been various attempts to create an electronic tablet that can record handwriting. Such electronic tablets typically comprise a screen and a handheld device that is similar to a pen (also referred to as a stylus). A user can manipulate the pen to write on the electronic tablet in a manner similar to the use of traditional pen and paper. The electronic tablet can “read” the strokes of the user's handwriting with the handheld device and render the handwriting in electronic form on the tablet's screen and/or the computer's display as “electronic ink”. This electronic tablet approach can be employed in a variety of ways including, on a personal computer and on a handheld computing device.
While the electronic tablet approach has overcome many of the shortcomings of traditional keyboard and mouse interfaces, the electronic tablet approach has not overcome some of the problems often associated with conventional handwritten techniques that employ pen and paper. For example, when handwritten notes are taken during a meeting by a user, the information being presented during the meeting may be conveyed beyond the speed of the user in order to take accurate and reliable notes. When information during a meeting is being presented beyond the speed of the user, valuable or important information may not be captured in the notes taken by the user.
Another problem with the electronic tablet approach that is common with conventional handwriting techniques is a user may not comprehend the information being presented during a meeting, a lecture, or other type of presentation because the user may be too focused on taking notes instead of listening and comprehending the information or material being presented. Another problem that the electronic tablet approach shares with conventional handwriting techniques is that notes are often personalized to the user and sometimes may not make sense to another user who did not make the notes. In other words, notes can be of such a personal nature that people other than a user taking the notes may not understand the notes when reading them.
An additional problem that the electronic tablet approach shares with the conventional handwritten techniques is both technologies are not very helpful when a user taking notes does not understand the information or material being presented. In such circumstances, a user may not be able to capture any information by note taking since the user does not understand any of the material being presented.
A further problem shared by the electronic tablet approach and conventional handwriting techniques is in some circumstances a user may not be permitted to read his or her notes while creating them. For example, during a job interview, an employer conducting an interview with a potential employee may miss important body language of the potential employee if the employer did not maintain eye contact with the potential employee. In such circumstances, the user or employer may not be able to capture the substance of the interview with handwriting techniques because eye contact must be maintained. Another problem occurs when reviewing notes. The context of a meeting or class is often forgotten when reviewing handwritten or typed notes.
In order to address some of the problems mentioned above, a user can capture information being presented by combining handwritten note taking techniques and using a media recorder such as an audio recorder or an audio/visual recorder. While recording information with a media device does preserve the entire contents of the information being presented to a user, conventional technology does not provide a way to connect handwritten notes with the medium used to record the information.
In other words, conventional technology does not provide any links between handwritten materials and the media recorder such that a user can easily navigate between information captured with handwriting and information captured with the media recorder. Often, when using a media recorder, a user must listen or view the captured information with a media player and stop, start, rewind, and fast forward through portions of a media file in order to synchronize the written word with the recorded word.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and system for linking page content with a media file such that a user can easily navigate between the page content and the media file as necessary. There is also a need in the art for a method and system for linking page content with a media file where visual indicators are provided to allow a user to see the connection between the written word and the recorded spoken word in a media file. A further need exists in the art for a method and system that can link page content with a media file such that a user can point to page content and the corresponding recorded medium would be synchronized with the selected written material. In other words, there is a need in the art for visually displaying a link that informs when the notes were taken during the course of a meeting or lecture.